Aston Villa may have found the missing piece of the jigsaw to save them from relegation – Yacouba Sylla.

The view from inside the Villa camp suggests the central midfielder is shaping up nicely ahead of a potential debut against Arsenal on Saturday.

Sylla has left his mark in training in more than one way following a series of whole-hearted displays.

And lifelong Villa fan Gabby Agbonlahor reckons the 22-year-old’s unique style of play is just what his struggling side need.

“From what we have seen in training he likes to tackle a lot,” said Agbonlahor.

“He’s even tougher than Ron Vlaar. He puts in two-footed challenges in training and kicks a lot of players.

“I think we need that because there are going to be games like that this season where we need someone to break up play and put a foot in.”

Agbonlahor reckons Villa have been missing a tenacious midfield hardman since the departure of Nigel Reo-Coker in 2011 and believes Sylla will have a vital role to play between now and the end of the season.

“He’s been a good addition to the squad and I think there will be a lot of games where he is involved in,” he added.

“When Nigel Reo-Coker was here, he was a similar type of player.

“When we had Gareth Barry and (Stiliyan) Petrov, they were not that type of player.